Translatability vs. Untranslatability

Abstract

The problem of translatability or untranslatability is closely related to man's understanding of the nature of language, meaning and translation. From the sociosemiotic point of view, "untranslatables" are fundamentally cases of language use wherein the three categories of sociosemiotic meaning carried by a source expression do not coincide with those of a comparable expression in the target language. Three types of untranslatability, referential, pragmatic, and intralingual may be distinguished. On the understanding that the object of translation is the message instead of the carrier of the message, language-specific norms considered untranslatable by some linguists should be excluded from the realm of untranslatables. And since translation is a communicative event involving the use of verbal signs, the chance of untranslatability in practical translating tasks may be minimized if the communicative situation is taken into account. In a larger sense, the problem of translatabiliiy is one of degrees: the higher the linguistic levels the source language signs carry meaning(s) at, the higher the degree of translatability these signs may display; the lower the levels they carry meaning(s) at, the lower the degree of translatability they may register. Résumé Le problème de la traduisibilité ou de la non-traduisibilité est étroitement lié à la compréhension par l'homme de la nature de la langue, de la signification et de la traduction. Du point de vue socio-sémiotique, les "non-traduisibles" sont fondamentalement des cas d'usage de la langue dans lesquels trois catégories de signification socio-sémiotique transmis par une expression source ne coïncident pas avec ceux d'une expression comparable dans la langue cible. On distingue trois types de "non-traduisibles": référentiels, pragmatiques ou interlangues. Etant entendu que l'objet de la traduction est le message et non le vecteur de ce dernier, des normes spécifiques à la langue, considérées "intraduisibles" par certains linguistes, devraient être exclues du domaine des "intraduisibles". Et comme la traduction est un acte de communication impliquant l'usage de signes verbaux, l'éventualité d' "intraduisibles" lors des tâches de traduction pratique peut être réduite lorsque la situation communicative est prise en considération. Dans un sens plus étendu, le problème de "traduisibilité" est une question de niveaux: plus les signes de la langue source transmettent de significations aux niveaux linguistiques les plus élevés, plus ces signes peuvent mettre en évidence le niveau de traduisibilité; au contraire, plus les niveaux qu'ils transmettent sont inférieurs, plus bas est le niveau de traduisibilité qu'ils enregistrent.

Transadapting fable into a parable for Indonesian Muslim children: Strategies and impacts

“…Since the proposed strategies are intended as a functional skill for the TPQ teachers not for a publisher which has more access and authority for visual modifications, the inability to truly adapt fables into parables in the perspectives of translation studies is considered as a part of untranslatability. The untranslatability in this case of fable to parable falls into the category of referential untranslatability, in which distinctive features of the source texts find no equivalence in the target texts (Ping, 1999). The distinctive feature of a parable is the presence of human agents whereas fables are of nonhuman agents.…”

Are ideophones translatable? The case of translating isiZulu ideophones in DBZ Ntuli’s short story <i>Uthingo Lwenkosazana (The Rainbow)</i>

“…The use of this description paints a clear picture of the sound that was made by the spear which was supposed to kill Mpiyakhe, explaining the sound and detailing where such a sound is likely to be created. Ping (1999) It could therefore be insinuated that CSZ has used approximation and amplification to convey the ideophones used in DBZ's short story. Approximation as a translation strategy appears to be a way around the problem of translating elements that are regarded as untranslatable.…”

The Untranslatability in Translating English to Vietnamese and Vice Versa

“…In order to satisfy that demand, there has been some research that mentioned this problemthe untranslatabilitybetween English and another dialect (Catford, 1965 [1]; Cui, 2012 [2]; Mattar, 2014 [3]; Ping, 1999 [4] & Wang, 2014 [5]). However, there is still no paper about the untranslatable words between English and Vietnamese, which could help to be supporting teaching as well as learning documents for both teachers and students majoring in Translation and Interpretation Department to deal with some relating problems, especially the unable-to-translate words.…”